August 23, 2013
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Report # 1035
Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all had a fantastic week. This week I had been getting everything ready that I needed to get ready before heading back to the company office yesterday. On Tuesday evening my friend texted me and asked if I wanted to go to a taco place and have something to eat. I had made some chicken and vegetables just a couple of hours earlier, so I wasn’t all that hungry, but I said I would go. I rushed up to the park and ran my 10 laps in about 40 minutes, and then headed home and had a shower before returning to the restaurant, which is right by that park. We just ate and talked for a couple of hours. I had two tacos with cheese and some little pies as well as a man had come in and was selling them… the apple pies were still hot.
On Wednesday I went to Cinépolis and I saw Red 2. I had seen the first one in theatres almost three years ago, so I wanted to see the second one as well… it was a good action movie. I went to Carl’s Jr. later in the day, and for my run in the evening and that was about it. Yesterday morning I woke up at 8:00 am, and was out of the house within 20 minutes. After taking the two buses, I got to the office in about an hour, though it probably could have been a bit quicker if traffic wasn’t so bad. I had to fill out more forms, and do even more exams. This time I had to do listening exams and email composition exams, responding to hypothetical customers and their situations. The listening exams were interesting as I had to listen to different types of customers and try to choose the best answers to help them.
Later on I went with two other guys and we were shown the floor where we would be working, and we each got to sit next to an experienced employee and listen in to a call. The call I listened in to went very well and the lady was very polite, though I’m sure the customers calling in are not always like that. Afterwards we returned to the office, signed a few more papers and that was finally it in there. I’ll be starting on Friday August 30, with two weeks of training, 3:00 pm until 9:30 pm, and after from 12:00 pm until 9:00 pm, which will both be six days of week, so I’ll definitely be busy. I saw some posters around the offices talking about a company bus that leaves in the evening, which would be able to take me home more directly, though I’m not sure if it will work for me, so I’ll have to see.
Before going home I had to do a drug test, which was the first time in my life I had to do that. It isn’t the most pleasant experience as they give you a small container and tell you to go to the bathroom, and outside there is a guy standing with the door half open. Luckily I was able to get that down and get out of there pretty fast. Afterwards I stopped at the San Agustín mall and picked up a house phone from Best Buy. I never really thought about having a house phone here, but its packaged with the internet, and I can use it to talk with my grandmother who never uses Skype, so it will work out. I had lunch at Focaccia, which still has there promotion of two side dishes, a main dish, and a desert all for 115 pesos. ($9.50)
I headed home afterwards and tried to hook up the phone, but then realized we didn’t have any more outlets. I walked up to a small shop and was able to get a very cheap extension and now the phone is connected. I was able to talk to my grandmother for the first time since I got to Mexico, so that was very nice. I also did my 10 laps around the park, and in the evening I had a Skype call with my parents. So today marks the start of my final week of these extremely long and forced vacations, so I will have to enjoy these seven days because after it will be mostly work every single day, which I’ll be ready for.
A few weeks ago, two brothers in New Brunswick, aged 4 and 6 were killed when a python escaped from a store that carries exotic pets, and crawled through the vents, arriving upstairs and strangling them when they slept. This story has really added to the controversy of owning exotic animals. A number of years ago in British Columbia, a tiger mauled to death a woman, on a farm which also carried exotic animals. These are just two examples, but I’m sure if someone would look into this more, they’d find even more examples of wild animals being held basically as pets, who have killed or severely injured people. Of course this isn’t the fault of the animals. They have been put in unideal situations, forced to live in small spaces, and being treated as if they are just like a dog or a cat. Wild and dangerous animals have no places in the homes or stores of anyone.
Some jurisdictions have passed laws banning the ownership of these animals, but clearly more places need to get on board in making these types of laws, and strictly enforcing them. Tigers and Pythons don’t belong in any small store or house of anyone… they belong in their natural habitat, or at the very least, in a certified zoo where they are treated properly and kept in a safe place. Hopefully more people start understanding this, because it would be such a tragedy to have more needless deaths from people owning and storing exotic and dangerous animals irresponsibly.
And very sad is that a lot of these times there are no places for these animals, and they are put down, which is just horrible. So the people who are keeping these poor animals inappropriately in their homes, farms, small stores, they need to have the animals confiscated immediately, ensuring that they can find a safe place to keep them, preferably in a zoo, if it’s too late to put them in the wild, and then these reckless owners need to be fined extreme amounts of money for their negligence. I really hope I never again read about some poor person being killed by a wild animal being treated as a pet…. one time was one time too many, and it’s certainly happened more than once, so I hope enough lessons have been learned to ensure this never happens again. For the next question:
What should be done with exotic and wild animals, particularly dangerous ones, who are being held as pets or in small stores, illegally by their owners ?
Well that’s all for this week. I hope that everyone has an amazing weekend. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Monday, bye for now.
Comments (3)
Wow, you’re doing awesome with your running. Good for you, especially with all the great food you are having. Also good you get to keep in touch with your family via Skype, and now over phone with your grandmother. That story about the exotic animal escaping and killing those 2 kids is heartbreaking. I don’t think any laws or anything, such as what happened, will stop people from illegally keeping exotic animals as pets.
I liked the first Red movie too, so I’ll have to check out the second one. How exciting that you are so close to starting work.I read about the two little boys being killed. It’s just awful. I don’t know if you remember me posting about the Monkey Sanctuary I took the kids to a few weeks ago. Some of the animals there were illegal pets. I’d like to see all illegal exotics end up in similar places. The owners and dealers should see jail time though- especially if the animal has done harm.
yay. finally, you’ll be working soon. yes, i too disagree with the idea of keeping an exotic animal. they certainly are NOT meant to be living in our modern environment. what these people doing is cruel. it’s not like they are put in a safari zoo. even for dogs and cats, now a days many purchase dog and cat breeds that originally came from a different continent. i see many of them here in south east asia where the climate is tropical all year long. i feel sorry for them pets, especially when the owners don’t know or don’t care enough to provide them with a proper living condition.